Arguing the Law
by LulaQ
Summary: Nick meets a public defender and problems arise. Of course, we all know what that means.
1. Default Chapter

A/N: Just so you all know, my knowledge of CSI is limited as I had to stop watching after the first season due to a change in cable status. Now that I have it again, I've been trying to catch up on reruns but obviously don't know everything that's happened. Please forgive any errors. Also, I don't own anything…

Arguing the Law

By Lula

Chapter One

It was funny how, sometimes, his job could be so peaceful. Just him, the scene and the evidence. So simple.

He knelt on the ground next to the broken lamp, remnants of a domestic disturbance gone even more wrong, and snapped the camera's shutter. The soft mechanical whir of the camera and his breathing were the only sounds in the room. Grissom and the others were busy at a multiple homicide on the other side of the city, which meant he was flying solo.

Solo work wasn't a prestige thing for him, as much as he always pushed for it. He just thought better when it was quiet. Thought better, saw better … _was_ better.

Bringing the camera close to his stomach, Nick rested back on his haunches, blowing out pent up breath as he scanned the room to determine which area to process next. His eyes rested on a dark smudge on the far wall, something he hadn't been able to see when standing earlier.

Stepping carefully through the debris on the living room floor, he made his way to the smudge, a self-satisfied half smile growing on his face as he recognized it as fresh blood – far away from where the rest of the action had supposedly happened. The half smile became a full one as he snapped a picture and pulled out a swab to get a sample for the lab.

_The evidence doesn't mesh with the husband's statement … and the evidence doesn't lie …_

Annie didn't exactly _hate_ her job. She considered it a necessary evil, a stepping stone to her preferred position as a public defender. She _needed_ to work for Burnett, Chase and Morgan to make some money to pay back school loans while she waited for a public defender's spot to open up.

The problem was that most of the attorneys at Burnett, Chase and Morgan were the type of lawyers she hated – scumbags no better than the people they represented; the people who paid them top dollar to beat the system on a technicality.

With that attitude, it was no wonder her friends and roommate kept questioning why she wanted to be a public defender instead of a prosecutor or something outside of criminal law. No one understood that she actually respected law enforcement and didn't want to keep criminals on the street.

Instead, and it may be idealistic, she wanted to defend because she had faith in the system – and that system guaranteed a fair and speedy trial. She knew she would do as good a job of defending her clients as possible, but it wouldn't upset her if the evidence proved them guilty.

But, boy oh boy, she wished she could be in that position right now, defending people who couldn't afford it – whether they were hardened criminals or kids caught up in the wrong crowd or even normally good people caught up in the moment.

Basically, any client other than the sleazebag leering at her from across the conference table, not even listening to Mark Burnett as he explained what would happen in the courtroom tomorrow.

James Willard, III was born with a silver spoon in his mouth and had stepped all over people to make it a golden one by the time he was 35. And, apparently, when he decided to trade in his wife for a younger version, he decided murder was easier than divorce settlements.

Normally, she reserved judgment on clients – it was easier to do her job when she could pretend they were innocent. But this firm and its clients were jading her. She only hoped she could get back to her normal self once the city of Las Vegas decided it had enough money in its budget to hire another defender.

Annie shook her head to clear it of the self-pity and listened to her boss explain how the hearing in the morning would basically be a presentation of evidence so the judge could decide if there was reason for a trial.

Burnett, of course, would ask for an immediate dismissal. After all, Mrs. Willard shot herself…

And Annie would ride shotgun – basically just sitting there because a man like Willard wouldn't have just _one_ lawyer.

As disgusted as she was with the case and herself, she was also secretly looking forward to it. After three months of working after graduation, this would be her first time actually in a courtroom!

At least the smile on her face was real when she shook Willard's hand as he left the meeting.

Nick was peering into the microscope when his pager went off, letting him know that Greg was done with his labs. He finished his analysis of fibers found at the scene and secured the evidence before heading off to the lab. There was no way he was letting someone argue his chain of custody of the evidence.

He smirked at Greg singing along to some song he'd never even heard before. The younger man's hair was sticking up even more than usual.

"Hey, Greggo."

"Nick, my man."

"You got my results?"

"Yepper… the blood from the wall was the vic's but laced with bleach. I bet if you go back to the scene, you'll find there was actually a lot more blood on the wall, but the perp tried to clean it up."

Nick chuckled. "Great."

It was Greg's turn to smirk, which made Nick's stomach sink as he anticipated a twist.

"That blood doesn't make your job easier, buddy. It makes it harder."

"Huh?"

"It doesn't match the vic or her husband. There was someone else there – and they lost a lot of blood."

"Oh, man."

"Looks like someone's going to be pulling a double …"

"Yeah – but first I gotta go get ready for court."

"Oh? Which case?"

"Willard."

"Oh, no problemo. That evidence could practically present itself."

"Yeah, but he has Mark Burnett as his lawyer."

Greg shook his head. "Darn lawyers."

Nick barked in laughter. "I know… I mean, are defense attorneys even human?"

"Ooooh, burn…." The men smiled at each other as Nick headed toward the break room to get some caffeine. He was going to need it…

Annie and Burnett walked up the courthouse steps. She was quiet, trying to settle the butterflies in her stomach. Why the heck was she so nervous anyway? It's not like she'd be doing anything but sit there!

Burnett called out to a bailiff out on his cigarette break. The man nodded, dropping his butt to the ground and crushing it under his boot.

"Hey."

"Chris, you in Judge Myer's court today?"

"Now, now… don't be trying to bribe me." The men laughed at their long-running joke.

"Of course not," Burnett cried in mock affront. "But if I was…how much would it take to find out which CSI is presenting?"

"Nothing, man. That's public record. Nick Stokes."

"Damn."

The bailiff smiled, nodded at Annie and headed back inside.

"Why damn?"

Burnett let out a breath and ran a hand through his distinguished graying hair.

"I normally don't have to deal with Stokes. I know he has a completely different style than his boss, who usually testifies in the cases I argue. Stokes really … connects with the jury – with people."

"But this is just a hearing."

"Typically, the same CSI will present throughout the trial."

"Oh…" Annie smiled. "Well, we'll figure out something, I'm sure."

Burnett smiled back. "That's my girl."

They entered the courtroom and went to their table at the front. Annie set her briefcase down in front of the second chair and clicked open the clasps. She sat down, smoothed out her skirt and breathed deeply. She caught Burnett's supportive smile as she tried to calm down, listening to people file into the room, most likely there for cases later on the docket. She figured some would be reporters though, as Willard was a pretty famous man. Hence, why he had a senior partner defending him.

She noticed Karen Matthews, the prosecutor, take her seat across the aisle and shot a grin over at her. Karen had guest lectured for some of her classes at the University and they had become friends. Most of the time, prosecutors and defenders didn't really like each other, but Karen knew and understood Annie's reasons behind her chosen profession. She was glad that she wouldn't have to argue just yet against her mentor, not sure if she could handle that so soon into her career.

Then the judge was entering, they were standing and it began. After initial presentations by Burnett and Karen, the judge asked the state to call its first witness, a detective Jim Brass. Brass looked like a typical cop – or at least Hollywood's typical cop, all gruffness, and doughnut eating and no-nonsense. He talked about the investigation and what the interrogations had provided. While Burnett stood and tried to poke holes in his case, Annie took notes. Not on the testimony, but on how Burnett behaved and questioned. Although she didn't want to be like him in the long run, she knew she could learn a lot from him by observation.

Brass's turn at bat was over relatively quickly, and Karen stood.

"The state calls Crime Scene Investigator Nicholas Stokes."

Annie heard footsteps from the crowd behind them, and saw out of the corner of her eye a man in a suit walking toward the front of the room. When he got into her main field of vision, Annie had to suck in a breath and duck her head to hide the flush. He was probably one of the hottest guys she had ever seen.

_Annie Grayne, this is not the time or place to be thinking such thoughts. From now on, you will consider this man to be your opponent, for Pete's sake!_

But that didn't stop her heart from fluttering when he began to speak, a soft Texas drawl making blood and DNA and hair fibers sound so sexy. Annie had no trouble understanding what Burnett meant when he said the CSI could connect with people.

When Karen sat down and Burnett stood, she noticed a change come over the witness, as he steeled up and gazed at her boss with an expression that was … mild disgust.

_Well, see, now you can stop daydreaming. He's obviously like all the other law enforcement guys out there – completely hates defense attorneys. He'd want nothing to do with you._

And the fact that, when he locked eyes with her a few seconds later, he quickly looked away merely cemented that first impression in Annie's head. __

Nick forced himself to focus on Burnett and his questions, but the more he tried to ignore the woman at the defense table, the more he was aware of her in his peripheral vision.

It's not like he hadn't seen pretty girls before. Heck, it's not like he hadn't _dated_ pretty girls before. He had no idea why this one intrigued him so much. Maybe because he had immediately classified her as off limits. Not because of the case, but because of her job. A defense attorney … let's just say he preferred women with souls.

Yet he couldn't keep his eyes from sliding toward her over and over again. Nick's breath caught in his throat when their eyes met, hers a cool penetrating blue that sparkled as she half smiled.

He jerked his gaze away, fixing them on Burnett as disgust at his unprofessional behavior overcame him.

He felt a little better, however, when the attorney told Judge Myer that he had no further questions. Burnett didn't look happy – which meant, of course, that Nick had every reason to be.

"Thank you, CSI Stokes. Next witness, please."

Stepping off the witness podium, Nick flashed a smile at Karen and continued to avoid the other side of the courtroom as he walked back to the audience and sat down a few rows back. He certainly could have gone back to the lab and started working on figuring out who the other person at his new scene was, but he wanted to see what was going to happen to Willard.

_That's the only reason I'm staying … really …_


	2. Chapter 2

A/N: Sorry it took so long for me to update – real life got in the way. I promise I'll update more often now; I know how frustrating that can be! BTW – reviews help, hint hint.

Chapter 2

The state's final witness, Willard's housekeeper, was dismissed, and the judge barely took any time to declare there was enough evidence for a trial. Nick smiled to himself; it was always nice to see your hard work pay off.

The smile turned into a smirk as he watched Burnett pack his case folder into the briefcase. The look on his face was priceless. Almost…constipated.

Nick stood and went to wait at the end of the aisle, watching Karen as she made her way back to him with sparkling eyes. She transferred her briefcase to her left hand, reaching the right out to squeeze his shoulder.

"Good job, Nicky; thanks."

"No problem." Nick angled his way out of the row, matching his pace to walk out with her, resolutely ignoring the fact that Burnett and his associate were only a few steps behind them.

"So, are you guys going to have any more cases for me?"

"Any day now," Nick followed Karen out of the courtroom, pausing as he held the door open for the lawyers behind him.

Burnett sped up to grab the door from him, half turning to let the younger woman leave ahead of him.

"Stokes. How are you?"

"Pretty good, Mr. Burnett. Yourself?"

"Could be better," Burnett's voice was even, but there was an undertone of sarcasm.

The four stood in a loose circle just outside of the courtroom, the people doing business flowing around them like water. Nick risked a glance at the woman, flashing a quick, closemouthed smile when he caught her looking at him. He looked away just as quickly, not noticing the slight flush of embarrassment in her cheeks.

"How are you doing, Karen?"

"Good, Annie. I'm glad to see you here; will you be arguing this case at all?"

Annie glanced at Burnett. "Uh…probably not."

The older man looked back and forth between the two women, confused.

"You two know each other?"

"Yeah, Karen lectured for some of my courses last year. I was the annoying student in front asking all the questions." She laughed, feeling a surge of warmth when he heard Nick chuckle as well.

"Annie, this is Nick Stokes. Nick, Annie Grayne."

The CSI stepped forward, taking his right hand from its casual position on his hip and extending it out to her.

"Ma'am." Annie smiled, embarrassed yet pleased.

"Annie, please."

"Nice to meet you."

"Same here."

A shrill beeping sound cut off any more conversation the two would have, and Nick's hand went back to his side to check the pager there.

"Well, I gotta go." Nick reached out to shake Burnett's hand and nodded at Annie. "Karen, we'll talk later."

"Yep, bye Nicky. Make sure to get _some_ sleep today."

Nick looked over his shoulder as he walked away and winked.

"I'll sleep when the criminals do."

Karen turned back to her courtroom rivals.

"Well, would you mind if I steal your employee for lunch."

"Nah, go ahead." Burnett wagged his finger at Annie and she tried not to look too disgusted at his fakeness. "No talking about our secret red hot defense."

Annie laughed just as falsely, rolling her eyes at Karen as the man followed Nick toward the front entrance. Karen suppressed a laugh and linked her arm with the younger woman's.

"Where to, my apt pupil?"

"Oh, anywhere – I could eat a horse!"

In the end, they just got a table at a café on the square down the street from the courthouse.

"So…." Karen toyed with her water glass after the waitress took their orders. "From that …exchange back there, I'm guessing the job is sucking out your soul?"

"Oh…my….God." Annie let her head drop back against the booth seat. "You know, my dad would be upset with me for saying this, but I _cannot_ wait until I'm making pennies at a thankless government job."

"I wouldn't mind that either, sweetie; I'd get to see you more often."

"Yeah – in the courtroom, where you would _devour_ me."

"Only if I had the better case. A prosecutor is only as good as her evidence."

Annie glanced away, trying to suppress the blush from resurfacing. But it was no use, and she saw Karen's face break into what was affectionately known as her "gossip face."

"I _knew_ it. I knew you were attracted to him. Hon, don't ever play poker."

"Yeah, yeah…laugh it up. It doesn't matter what I think of Nick Stokes. It's not like anything will ever happen."

"How do you know?"

"Oh come on. Attraction and action are two different things. I'm a defense attorney; he's a CSI.

"So? You have nothing against law enforcement."

"Yeah, but they tend to have a bias toward public defenders. Annie smiled and shrugged her shoulders, glad when the food arrived to change the subject.

Nick smirked as Sara whistled at him when he walked in, tie loosened, shirtsleeves rolled up and jacket tossed over his shoulder.

"Hey, what's going on?"

"I'm going home."

Nick stopped in his tracks.

"Whoa…what? Sara? Sara Sidle… you're going home when there's crimes to be solved?"

"Ha. Ha. Ha."

Nick smiled. "Get some sleep for me."

"Working on the domestic?"

"A domestic plus one."

"Yeah, Greg told me about that. Interesting."

"Maybe." Nick pushed the locker room door open.

"See you later."

"See ya."

The next few hours passed in a blur for Nick as he checked the blood's DNA against the database. His brain shut down while his eyes remained wide open, watching yet not watching the computer work.

His cellphone's chirping snapped Nick out of his reverie, and his hand slapped down to his side to shut of the offending technology.

"Stokes."

"It's Brass. Got anything on the D.D. yet?"

"Working on it. Did Greg tell you about the second subject yet?"

"Yes, which is confusing. Mrs. Jacobson admitted to stabbing her husband in self-defense. There's a history of abuse there. Preliminary evidence shows sign of struggle. I don't get it – everything except that blood supports her story."

"I don't know what to tell you, but hopefully I'll have something soon."

"Okay, I'm going to interview Mrs. Jacobson's sister. Do you want to come with?"

"Ah…no. I'm going to finish up with stuff here and try and catch a few hours of sleep."

"Alright. Keep me updated."

"Uh-huh."

The computer beeped on a match just as Nick snapped his phone shut.

"Hmmm." Nick hit print, standing up to get the paper. "Hmm, Hmm, Hmm."

"What you got?" Nick jumped and turned to see Catherine leaning against the door frame."

"The mystery blood found at my D.D. matches a Jake Carner – a bartender at Merv's Bar."

"Isn't that a gay bar?"

"Uh-huh. I guess I'll go see if I can find Mar. Carner."

"I'll drive." Nick cocked his head at her.

"Excuse me?"

"Yep. When Gris found out yours was a multiple homicide too, he figured you might need some help."

"Meaning he doesn't think I can close it alone."

"No!" Catherine reached out to grasp Nick's arm, an earnest look on her face. "He has total confidence in you. Think of me as another pair of eyes, another pair of hands and a sounding board."

Nick thinned his lips but nodded, resigned.

"Remember, Nick, even Gris asks us what we think on his cases."

"Yeah, yeah. Let's go – but _I'm_ driving."

Catherine chuckled and followed him out of the lab.

Ten minutes later the SUV pulled to a stop outside the bar, a small place with an unassuming entrance dwarfed by the neon lights and tackiness of the businesses surrounding it. At this time of day, the bar's employees were there to prepare for a busy night, but no customers had arrived yet.

Nick led the way in, pausing to let his eyes adjust to the dark from the bright desert sun. A young man glanced up as they walked in, confusion in his eyes but a fake "helping the customers" expression on the rest of his face.

"Hi, I'm Nick Stokes. This is Catherine Willows. We're with the crime lab."

The smile faltered. "Can I … help you with something?

"Do you know where we can fine a Jake Carner?"

"I haven't seen him since last night. He went on his break, but never came back. If he shows up, he's fired anyway."

Catherine pulled out a picture of Mr. Jacobson.

"Do you know this man?"

The bartender leaned forward and glanced at the picture. The CSIs knew the answer to the question before he spoke, seeing the recognition dawn on his face.

"Yeah. Peter. Jake's boyfriend."

Nick looked at Catherine, raising an eyebrow."

"Thanks."  
Nick and Catherine went back outside and climbed into the SUV.

"Well, let's go see if Mrs. Jacobson knows about her dearly departed husband's extra curricular activities.


End file.
